List of countries and dependencies by real population density or physiological density (defined as inhabitants/km² of arable land) ranks the countries based on arable land

Arable land

In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...

available and hence the capacity to feed their own people. This is a much better measure than pure population density as it shows how, while at first look India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 might seem more densely populated than countries like the UK, it is in reality less so, because a much larger portion of the land in India is suitable for agriculture. This list also explains why throughout the history of mankind places like China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 and India have supported larger populations i.e. have had higher carrying capacities.

Rank	Country	Population (July 2005 est.)	Land Area (km²)	% of arable land (2005 est.)	Arable Land (km²)	Population Density (pop per km²)	Real Population Density (pop per km² of arable land)
-	World	6,447,427,283	148,940,000	13.31%	19,823,914	43	325
1	Singapore	4,425,720	682.7	1.47%	10	6,483	440,998
2	' (PRC)	6,898,686	1,042	5.05%	53	6,621	131,101
3	Djibouti	476,703	22,980	0.04%	9	21	51,861
4	Bahrain	688,345	665	2.82%	19	1,035	36,706
5	Kuwait	2,335,648	17,820	0.84%	150	131	15,603
6	Gaza Strip Gaza Strip thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...	1,376,289	360	29%	104	3,823	13,183
7	Puerto Rico (US)	3,911,810	8,870	3.69%	327	441	11,952
8	Oman	3,003,265	212,460	0.12%	255	14	11,780
9	United States Virgin Islands (US)	108,708	346	5.71%	20	314	11,141
10	French Polynesia (France)	270,735	3,660	0.75%	27	74	9,863
11	Maldives	349,106	300	13.33%	40	1,164	8,730
12	Guam (US)	168,564	541.3	3.64%	20	311	8,555
13	Seychelles	81,188	455	2.17%	10	178	8,223
14	Andorra	70,549	468	2.13%	10	151	7,077
15	Western Sahara	360,684	266,000	0.02%	53	1	6,780
16	United Arab Emirates	4,086,602	82,880	0.77%	638	49	6,404
17	Bermuda (UK)	65,365	53.3	20.00%	11	1,226	6,132
18	The Bahamas	301,790	10,070	0.58%	58	30	5,167
19	Aruba (Netherlands)	96,976	193	10.53%	20	502	4,772
20	Kiribati	103,176	811	2.74%	22	127	4,643
21	Qatar	863,051	11,437	1.64%	188	75	4,601
22	Martinique (France)	432,900	1,060	9.09%	96	408	4,493
23	Grenada	89,527	344	5.88%	20	260	4,426
24	Cayman Islands (UK)	44,340	262	3.85%	10	169	4,396
25	Saint Lucia	166,312	606	6.45%	39	274	4,255
26	Iceland	296,737	100,250	0.07%	70	3	4,229
27	Malta	398,534	316	31.25%	99	1,261	4,036
28	New Caledonia (France)	216,662	18,575	0.32%	59	12	3,645
29	Brunei	361,110	5,270	2.08%	110	69	3,294
30	Solomon Islands	538,133	27,540	0.62%	171	20	3,152
31	South Korea	48,640,671	98,190	16.58%	16,280	495	2,988
32	Marshall Islands	59,096	181.3	11.11%	20	326	2,934
33		22,701,079	32,260	24.00%	7,742	704	2,932
34	Japan	127,537,189	374,744	11.64%	43,620	340	2,924
35	American Samoa (US)	57,881	199	10.00%	20	291	2,909
36	San Marino	28,880	61.2	16.67%	10	472	2,831
37	Federated States of Micronesia	108,082	702	5.71%	40	154	2,696
38	Egypt	77,561,884	995,450	2.92%	29,067	78	2,668
39	Papua New Guinea	5,554,512	452,860	0.49%	2,219	12	2,503
40	West Bank West Bank The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...	2,385,615	5,640	16.90%	953	423	2,503
41	Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands)	220,095	960	10%	96	229	2,293
42	Lebanon	3,829,722	10,452	16.35%	1,673	374	2,290
43	Sri Lanka	20,504,264	64,740	13.96%	9,038	317	2,269
44	São Tomé and Príncipe	187,604	1,001	8.33%	83	187	2,250
45	Guadeloupe (France)	448,713	1,706	11.70%	200	263	2,248
46	Réunion (France)	776,948	2,507	13.94%	349	310	2,223
47	Netherlands	16,407,491	33,883	21.96%	7,441	484	2,205
48	Israel	6,742,915	20,330	15.45%	3,141	332	2,147
49	Colombia	43,100,021	1,038,700	2.01%	20,878	41	2,064
50	Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)	20,569	430	2.33%	10	48	2,053
51	Bangladesh	144,319,628	133,910	55.39%	74,173	1,078	1,946
52	Switzerland	7,489,370	39,770	9.91	3,941	188	1,900
53	Jordan	5,759,732	91,971	3.32%	3,053	63	1,886
54	Costa Rica	4,018,756	50,660	4.40%	2,229	79	1,803
55	Barbados	278,870	431	37.21%	160	647	1,739
56	French Guiana (France)	195,506	89,150	0.13%	116	2	1,687
57	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	117,534	389	17.95%	70	302	1,683
58	Faroe Islands (Denmark)	48,307	1,399	2.14%	30	35	1,614
59	Jamaica	2,736,513	10,831	15.83%	1,715	253	1,596
60	Philippines	87,857,473	298,170	19%	56,652	295	1,551
61	Mauritania	3,086,859	1,030,400	0.20%	2,061	3	1,498
62	Isle of Man (UK)	75,049	572	9%	51	131	1,458
63	Dominica	72,125	754	6.67%	50	96	1,434
64	Trinidad and Tobago	1,075,066	5,128	14.62%	750	210	1,434
65	Yemen	20,745,098	527,970	2.91%	15,364	39	1,350
66	Malaysia	23,966,096	328,550	5.46%	17,939	73	1,336
67	Northern Mariana Islands (US)	80,362	477	13.04%	62	168	1,292
68	Vietnam	83,535,576	325,360	20.14%	65,528	257	1,275
69	Nepal	27,676,547	136,800	16.07%	21,984	202	1,259
70	Mauritius	1,242,821	2,030	49.02%	995	612	1,249
71	Belgium	10,364,388	30,278	27.42%	8,302	342	1,248
72	Slovenia	2,011,070	20,151	8.53%	1,719	100	1,170
73	Indonesia	228,895,746	1,826,440	11.03%	201,456	125	1,136
74	United Kingdom	60,441,457	241,590	23.23%	56,121	250	1,077
75	Haiti	8,298,163	27,560	28.11%	7,747	301	1,071
76	El Salvador	6,711,676	20,720	31.37%	6,500	324	1,033
77	Sierra Leone	5,874,481	71,620	7.95%	5,694	82	1,032
78	Vanuatu	206,090	12,200	1.64%	200	17	1,030
79	Tanzania	37,770,570	886,037	4.23%	37,479	43	1,008
80	Venezuela	25,269,177	882,050	2.85%	25,138	29	1,005
81	People's Republic of China	1,306,313,812	9,326,410	14.86%	1,385,905	140	943
82	Democratic Republic of the Congo	60,473,510	2,267,600	2.86%	64,853	27	932
83	Cape Verde	418,837	4,033	11.41%	460	104	910
84	Liberia	2,902,179	96,320	3.43%	3,304	30	878
85	Comoros	671,638	2,170	35.87%	778	310	863
86	Guinea	9,452,670	245,857	4.47%	10,990	38	860
87	Burundi	7,795,426	25,650	35.57%	9,124	304	854
88	Antigua and Barbuda	68,722	442.6	18.18%	80	155	854
89	Somalia	8,752,449	627,337	1.64%	10,288	14	851
90	Guatemala	12,182,548	108,430	13.22%	14,334	112	850
91	North Korea	22,912,177	120,410	22.40%	26,972	190	849
92	East Timor	1,041,806	15,007	8.20%	1,231	69	847
93	Ecuador	13,363,593	276,840	5.71%	15,808	17	845
94	Liechtenstein	33,717	160	25%	40	211	843
95	Dominican Republic	9,088,094	48,380	22.49%	10,881	188	835
96	Pakistan	158,781,792	778,720	24.44%	190,319	204	834
97	Rwanda	9,378,226	24,948	45.56%	11,366	376	825
98	Wallis and Futuna (France)	16,025	274	7.14%	20	58	819
99	Chile	15,995,043	748,800	2.62%	19,619	21	815
100	Saudi Arabia	26,417,599	1,960,582	1.67%	32,742	13	807
101	Eritrea	4,669,638	121,320	4.78%	5,799	38	787
102	Suriname	460,495	161,470	0.36%	581	3	792
103	Tonga	112,445	718	20%	144	157	783
104	Cyprus	780,133	9,240	10.81%	999	84	781
105	Saint Kitts and Nevis	38,958	261	19.44%	51	149	768
106	Kenya	34,911,779	569,250	8.01%	45,597	61	766
107	Peru	28,051,105	1,280,000	2.88%	36,864	22	761
108	Luxembourg	468,571	2,586	23.94%	619	181	757
109	India	1,093,563,426	2,973,190	48.83%	1,451,809	368	753
110	Italy	58,103,033	294,020	26.41%	77,651	198	748
111	British Virgin Islands (UK)	22,643	153	20.00%	31	148	740
112	Tajikistan	6,814,791	142,700	6.52%	9,304	48	732
113	Republic of the Congo	3,602,269	341,500	1.45%	4,952	11	727
114	Germany	82,431,390	349,223	33.13%	115,698	236	712
115	Honduras	7,167,902	111,890	9.53%	10,663	64	672
116	Laos	6,217,141	230,800	4.01%	9,255	27	672
117	Malawi	12,974,924	94,080	20.68%	19,456	138	667
118	Portugal	10,566,212	91,951	17.29%	15,898	115	665
119	Uganda	28,199,390	199,710	21.57%	43,077	141	655
120	Ethiopia	73,053,286	1,119,683	10.01%	112,080	65	652
121	Albania	3,563,112	27,398	20.10%	5,507	130	647
122	Swaziland	1,138,227	17,203	10.25%	1,763	66	646
123	Lesotho	2,118,091	30,355	10.87%	3,300	70	642
124	Madagascar	18,312,163	581,540	5.03%	29,251	31	626
125	Armenia	2,982,904	28,400	16.78%	4,766	105	626
126	Guinea-Bissau	1,414,159	28,000	8.31%	2,327	51	608
127	Bhutan	654,897	47,000	2.30%	1,081	14	606
128	Uzbekistan	26,851,195	425,400	10.51%	44,710	63	601
129	Austria	8,184,691	82,444	16.59%	13,677	99	598
130	Georgia (country)	4,677,401	69,700	11.51%	8,022	67	583
131	The Gambia	1,595,086	10,000	27.88%	2,788	160	572
132	Panama	3,140,232	75,990	7.26%	5,517	41	569
133	Norway	4,593,041	307,860	2.70%	8,312	15	553
134	Ghana	22,025,680	230,940	17.54%	40,507	95	544
135	Cook Islands (New Zealand)	21,388	240	16.67%	40	89	535
136	Côte d'Ivoire	17,298,040	318,000	10.23%	32,531	54	532
137	Palau	20,303	458	8.70%	40	44	510
138	Senegal	11,860,429	192,000	12.51%	24,019	62	494
139	Myanmar	46,595,675	657,740	14.92%	98,135	71	475
140	Mozambique	20,154,010	784,090	5.43%	42,576	26	473
141	Botswana	1,759,832	585,370	0.65%	3,805	3	463
142	Iraq	26,074,906	432,162	13.12%	56,700	60	460
143	Montserrat (UK)	9,341	102	20%	20	92	458
144	Thailand	64,185,502	511,770	27.54%	140,941	125	455
145	Azerbaijan	8,015,567	86,100	20.62%	17,754	93	451
146	Gabon	1,395,690	257,667	1.21%	3,118	5	448
147	Fiji	893,586	18,270	10.95%	2,001	49	447
148	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,430,494	51,129	19.61%	10,026	87	442
149	Equatorial Guinea	567,232	28,051	4.63%	1,299	20	437
150	Mexico	106,202,903	1,923,040	12.66%	243,457	55	436
151	Algeria	32,560,735	2,381,740	3.17%	75,501	14	431
152	Nigeria	128,765,768	910,768	33.02%	300,736	141	428
153	Kyrgyzstan	5,146,281	191,300	6.55%	12,530	27	411
154	Iran	64,737,226	1,636,000	9.78%	160,001	40	405
155	Belize	281,289	22,806	3.05%	696	12	404
156	Syria	18,448,752	184,050	24.80%	45,644	100	404
157	Greece	10,668,354	130,800	20.45%	26,749	82	399
158	Morocco	32,793,012	446,300	19%	84,797	73	387
159	Zimbabwe	12,160,782	386,670	8.24%	31,862	31	382
160	Afghanistan	29,928,987	647,500	12.13%	78,542	46	381
161	Slovakia	5,431,363	48,800	29.23%	14,264	111	381
162	Tunisia	10,079,380	155,360	17.05%	26,489	65	381
163	Cambodia	13,526,825	176,520	20.44%	36,081	77	375
164	Republic of Macedonia	2,045,262	24,856	22.01%	5,471	82	374
165	Cuba	11,326,153	110,860	27.63%	30,631	102	370
166	Sweden	9,001,774	410,934	5.93%	24,368	22	369
167	Angola	11,706,954	1,246,700	2.65%	33,038	9	354
168	Republic of Ireland	4,015,676	68,890	16.82%	11,587	58	347
169	Czech Republic	10,241,138	77,276	38.82%	29,999	133	341
170	Samoa	208,937	2,934	21.13%	620	71	337
171	Early Modern France (Metropolitan Metropolitan France Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica... )	60,656,178	545,630	33.46%	182,568	111	332
172	Serbia and Montenegro	10,828,899	102,136	33.18%	33,889	106	320
173	Libya	5,765,563	1,759,540	1.03%	18,123	3	318
174	Brazil	186,112,794	8,456,510	6.93%	586,036	22	318
175	Poland	38,557,984	304,465	40.25%	122,547	127	315
176	Independent State of Croatia	4,495,904	56,414	25.82%	14,566	80	309
177	Nicaragua	5,469,181	120,254	14.81%	17,810	45	307
178	Turkey	69,660,559	770,760	29.81%	229,764	90	303
179	South Africa	44,344,136	1,219,912	12.10%	147,609	36	300
180	Spain	40,341,462	499,542	27.18%	135,776	81	297
181	Benin	7,649,360	110,620	23.53%	26,029	69	294
182	Bolivia	8,857,870	1,084,390	2.78%	30,146	8	294
183	Cameroon	17,261,467	469,440	12.54%	58,868	37	293
184	Burkina Faso	13,903,886	273,800	17.66%	48,353	51	288
185	New Zealand	4,035,461	268,021	5.54%	14,848	15	272
186	Chad	9,400,658	1,259,200	2.80%	35,258	7	267
187	Finland	5,223,442	304,473	6.54%	19,913	17	262
188	Estonia	1,332,893	43,211	12.05%	5,207	31	256
189	Uruguay	3,424,889	173,620	7.77%	13,490	20	254
190	Namibia	2,028,356	825,418	0.99%	8,172	2	248
191	Mali	11,379,386	1,220,000	3.76%	45,872	9	248
192	Kingdom of Romania	22,329,977	230,340	39.49%	90,961	97	245
193	Denmark	5,432,335	42,394	52.59%	22,295	128	244
194	Mongolia	2,865,994	1,564,116	0.76%	11,887	2	241
195	Moldova	4,340,177	33,371	54.52%	18,194	130	239
196	Sudan	37,762,842	2,376,000	6.78%	161,093	16	234
197	Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (France)	7,012	242	12.50%	30	29	232
198	Kingdom of Bulgaria	7,450,349	110,550	29.94%	33,099	67	225
199	Togo	5,399,991	54,385	44.20%	24,038	99	225
200	Turkmenistan	4,932,743	488,100	4.51%	22,013	10	224
201	Central African Republic	4,237,703	622,984	3.10%	19,313	7	219
202	Hungary	10,006,835	92,340	49.58%	45,782	108	219
203	Zambia	11,115,381	740,724	6.99%	51,777	15	215
204	Paraguay	6,351,059	397,300	7.47%	29,678	16	214
205	United States	295,734,134	9,161,923	18.01%	1,650,062	32	179
206	Belarus	9,809,130	207,600	26.77%	55,575	47	177
207	Guyana	765,283	196,850	2.23%	4,390	4	174
208	Ukraine	46,959,420	603,700	53.80%	324,791	78	145
209	Argentina	39,537,943	2,736,690	10.03%	274,490	14	144
210	Saint Helena (UK)	7,479	413	12.90%	53	18	140
211	Latvia	2,290,237	63,589	28.19%	17,926	36	128
212	Lithuania	3,596,617	65,200	44.81%	29,216	55	123
213	Russia	142,775,578	16,995,800	7.17%	1,218,599	8	117
214	Niger	12,162,856	1,266,700	11.43%	144,784	10	84
215	Canada	32,386,378	9,093,507	4.57%	415,573	4	78
216	Niue (New Zealand)	2,166	260	11.54%	30	8	72
217	Kazakhstan	15,185,844	2,669,800	8.28%	221,059	6	69
218	Australia	20,090,437	7,617,930	6.15%	468,503	3	43
219	Monaco	32,409	1.95	0%	0	16,620	-
220	' (PRC People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... )	449,198	28.2	0%	0	15,929	-
221	Gibraltar (UK)	27,884	6.5	0%	0	4,290	-
222	Vatican City	921	0.44	0%	0	2,093	-
223	Jersey (UK)	90,812	116	0%	0	783	-
224	Nauru	13,048	21	0%	0	621	-
225	Tuvalu	11,634	26	0%	0	447	-
226	Tokelau (New Zealand)	1,405	10	0%	0	141	-
227	Anguilla (UK)	13,116	102	0%	0	129	-
228	Norfolk Island (Australia)	1,828	34.6	0%	0	3	-
229	Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)	628	14	0%	0	3	-
230	Christmas Island (Australia)	361	135	0%	0	3	-
231	Falkland Islands (UK)	2,967	12,173	0%	0	0.2	-
232	Svalbard (Norway)	2,701	62,049	0%	0	0.04	-
233	Greenland (Denmark)	56,375	2,166,086	0%	0	0.03	-

External links

• The World Factbook, 2005
• The World Factbook, 2006